Lunfardo

Fishburn and Hughes: A term originating from the French 'Lombard'; the meaning 'thief dates from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, when the Lombards were bankers and usurers in Paris. CF 370: as appears from the English translation, the term is now given by extension to the slang used by the riff-raff of Buenos Aires and surrounding areas. Much of its vocabulary has crept into colloquial argentinismo (Argentinian speech). Juan Muraña